TODAY. THERE USED TO BE A SMALL BODY OF WATER IN THE TOWN WHERE THE COWS DRANK NOT UNLIKE THE ONE BEHIND ME SOME YEARS AGO. THE LITTLE POND WAS USED AS IRRIGATION. THAT POND WAS THE SCENE OF A HORRIBLE STORY TOLD MANY YEARS LATER BY THE POET JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER ENTITLED, "SUICIDE POND." SOMEBODY DROWNED THERE. HER NAME WAS HANNAH CHASE. SHE DIED ON THE EVE OF HER WEDDING DAY. SHE WAS DISCOVERED THE NEXT MORNING BY A BOY WHO WAS DRIVING HIS COWS TO THE MEADOW. SHE WAS WEARING HER WEDDING DRESS, A RING, AND A PEARL NECKLACE. AND TO THIS DAY, THE REASON FOR THE DEATH REMAINS UNKNOWN. IT HAPPENED AROUND JUNE 19, 1819. SPECULATION WAS HER FATHER DID NOT APPROVE OF THE MAN HIS DAUGHTER HAD CHOSEN TO MARRY. AND AT THE END, HE HAD DISALLOWED THE MARRIAGE. 15 YEARS LATER, JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER WROTE HIS POEM ABOUT THE TRAGEDY. THE POET DID NOT VENTURE WHY THE YOUNG WOMAN TOOK HER LIFE, BUT HE DOES DESCRIBE THE POND ITSELF. HE SAYS, WHY SHE PERISHED SO STRANGELY THERE NO MORTAL TONGUE CAN TELL. SHE TOLD HER STORY TO NONE, AND DEATH RETAINS HER SECRET. IT IS ALSO NOTED ON HOT SUMMER EVENINGS, PEOPLE USED TO SEE SLOW CIRCLES IN THE WATER OF THAT POND AND A HUMAN SHAPE APPEAR. AND A HUMAN CRY WOULD COME FROM A DISMAL PLACE. BUT THAT DISMAL PLACES NO MORE. WHITTIER HIMSELF IS NO MORE. AND HANNAH CHASE LIES IN HER GRAVE IN A FAMILY CEMETERY. HER SECRET LINE WITH HER. -- LYING THERE WIT